Principles of Alignment

In the early days of CrossFit, I would travel with CrossFit Founder “Coach” Greg Glassman to start-up CrossFit Affiliate gyms in preparation for a Seminar. Coach would insist on arriving a day early to recon the gym, feel the energy of the space, and conduct impromptu tests for what he referred to as “Principles of Alignment.” What he taught me significantly shaped my life, and guided the practices at CrossFit Amundson.

I remember peeking through a window of a CrossFit Affiliate gym with Coach. The owners and Athletes had long since returned home. The gym was empty. Coach said to me,

“Hey Kid, see that? Look at those bumper plates and tell me what you see.”

I put my face up to the glass window and peered inside. I saw a stack of black 45lb. plates stacked against a wall. Nothing looked out of place or out of the ordinary.

“Yeah, so what? Some black plates.” I said to Coach.

“Kid, see how they are not stacked neatly. How there is no alignment? If a gym owner can’t properly align bumper plates, I question their ability to align their client’s backs. Attention to detail is everything.”

I was blown away. Coach was exactly right. As I looked again at the plates, I saw what he had referred to. There was no order. There was no alignment. There was no attention to detail. We train in CrossFit, Yoga and Krav Maga to develop a set of principles, and then apply those principles throughout our entire life. A principle, by it’s very nature, is universal. It does no apply in a vacuum. Rather, it’s a guiding light in our life, helping to create order, alignment and focus in our life.

A spiritual practice means to align our principles with our actions. We create alignment in our life by continually adjusting our thoughts, words and actions to be consistent with our principles.

Honor. Integrity. Courage. Perseverance. Commitment. Loving-Kindness. Faith.

This is the way of a Warrior of Light.